"Urban renewal" hits Moscow

Moscow's unique and diverse architectural heritage is under "full-scale attack" and in serious danger of disappearing altogether, a group of British and Russian experts warned yesterday.

Russia's sprawling capital is being transformed into a series of "super-gentrified ghettos," an "ersatz city" fit only for "Gucci-bagged oligarchs' wives".

In a report entitled Moscow Heritage at Crisis Point, two architectural charities - the Moscow Architecture Preservation Society and Save Europe's Heritage - say the scale of destruction under Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has been breathtaking. During the past five years about 1,000 historic buildings have disappeared. Some 200 of them were listed monuments.

Although Russia has strict preservation laws, corrupt officials failed to enforce the rules. Other historic buildings mysteriously "burned down", the report says.

Posted by David on May 15, 2007 9:13 PM